Fastening device for shoes, particularly for ski and mountaineering shoes



Sept. 17, 1968 M.TRESENREITER 3,401,432

FASTENING DEVICE FOR SHOES, PARTICULARLY FOR SKI AND MOUNTAINEERING SHOES Filed June .19, 1967 I5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Sept; 17, 1968 M.-TRESENREITER 3,401,432

FASTENING DEVICE FOR SHOES PARTICULARLY FOR SKI AND MOUNTAINEERING SHOES 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed June 19, 1967 INVENTOR. mwem zezsmef/me ATTUE/i/[YS Sept. 17, 1968 M. TRESENREITER 3,401,432

FASTENING DEVICE FOR SHOES, PARTICULARLY FOR vSKI AND MOUNTAINEERING SHOES Filed June 19, 1967 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 IN V EN TOR.

ATTOB/VFYS United States Patent 9 Claims. 1.24 70 ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A fastening device for shoes, particularly ski and mountaineering shoes. The fastening device comprises a tensioning lever pivotally mounted to one instep portion of the shoe, the tensioning lever having several recesses in the sidewall thereof for receiving a clamping loop pivotally connected to the other instep portion. A safety mechanism is provided for preventing removal of the clamping loop from the recesses when the tensioning lever is open. The safety mechanism comprises a resilient insert having recesses therein, the insert being fixedly secured to the tensioning lever with the recesses in the tensioning lever and the insert being aligned with each other. The recesses in the insert are not as wide at the open end thereof as the cross section of the clamping loop whereby insertion of the loop into the recesses causes a resilient deformation of the insert. On the other hand, the closed end of the insert recesses are as wide as or wider than the closed end of the recesses in the tensioning lever.

This invention relates to a fastening device or buckle for shoes, particularly ski and mountaineering shoes, said device essentially comprising a tensioning lever being pivotably mounted on one instep portion of the shoe and having an approximately U-shaped cross section, said tensioning lever having several recesses in its sidewalls for receiving a clamping loop connected to the other instep portion and having a safety mechanism which prevents removal of the clamping loop from the recesses when the tensioning lever is opened.

In such a known fastening device, said safety mechanism is a safety lever pivotably arranged with respect to the tensioning lever, said safety lever extending in the closed condition over the open ends of the recesses. In order to hold said safety lever in this condition, the tensioning lever is provided with a slot on its free end, said slot engaging the free end of the safety lever. Said construction has, however, various deficiencies. Said safety device is very complicated to operate. During the taking off and putting on of the shoes, not only the tensioning lever but also the safety lever must be opened so that the tensioning lever and the clamping 100p can be separated. When the shoes are again put on, the clamping loop can again be inserted into the tensioning lever. Prior to the closing of the tensioning lever, the safety lever must be closed with respect to the tensioning lever. If, after the tensioning lever is closed, it is noted that the clamping loop is placed in the wrong recess and that the tension is too great or too small, the tensioning lever must first be opened followed by the opening of the safety lever. The clamping loop is then placed in a different recess and the safety lever is closed again with respect to the tensioning lever and finally the tensioning lever is pressed down. This is a rather complicated and time consuming operation. Furthermore, it must be added that the safety lever, being of thin material, bends relatively easy so that the tensioning lever cannot be closed. The tensioning lever is also weakened as a result of the provision of the slot and can also easily bend in this area.

Patented Sept. 17, 1968 ice The purpose of this invention is to provide a fastening device with a safety mechanism which is simple in handling, inexpensive to manufacture and less susceptible to trouble.

This is achieved according to the invention in a way that the safety mechanism consists of an insert having recesses therein and being formed of a resilient material, said insert being fixedly secured to the tensioning lever with the insert recesses being narrower at the open end than the cross section of the clamping loop while the closed end of the recesses have the same width or a greater width than the corresponding recesses of the tensioning lever. In this embodiment, the safety mechanism is fixedly secured to the tensioning lever and operates essentially on the basis of its elasticity. Since the width of the recesses at their open end is smaller than the cross section of the clamping loop, the teeth between the recesses of the safety mechanism must be separated slightly during the insertion of the clamping loop into the recesses of the tensioning lever. Due to their elasticity, however, said teeth, as soon as the clamping loop is positioned at the closed end of the recesses, return to their initial position. In this position, they prevent the clamping loop from moving out of the recesses of the tensioning lever when the buckle is opened. The buckle of the invention has essential advantages in operation in comparison to the known buckle. For example, the clamping loop must only be slightly inserted between the teeth of the insert during closing, said clamping loop being positioned only between the tops of said teeth. Due to the tension which occurs during closing, the clamping loop is self-actingly pulled between the teeth until said clamping loop abuts the bottom of the recess of the tensioning lever. The teeth of the tensioning lever also receive the total tension force. If the tensioning lever is to be released from the clamping loop, only a small force is needed to pull the clamping loop out of the teeth against the elasticity of the teeth of said insert. Said force can be exactly predetermined by selecting the material for the insert and by a suitable dimensioning of same. The insert in no way weakens the tensioning lever since same is inserted only in the areas not usually used, such as between the sidewalls and the outside wall which together form the U-shaped profile of the tensioning lever. Said insert can be held therein by means further discussed hereinafter.

Further advantages and details of the invention are discussed hereinbelow in detail with reference to the illustrative embodiments set forth in the drawings wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a side-elevational view of the fastening device approximately of natural size;

FIGURE 2 is a side-elevational view of a first embodiment of the tensioning lever together with the safety mechanism;

FIGURE 3 is a bottom view of the parts of FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 4 is a side-elevational view of a second embodiment;

FIGURE 5 is a side-elevational view of a third embodiment;

FIGURE 6 is a bottom view of the embodiment of FIGURE 5;

FIGURE 7 is a partial side-elevational view of a fourth embodiment;

FIGURE 8 is a cross-sectional view along the line VIIIVIII of FIGURE 7;

FIGURE 9 is a cross-sectional view of a further embodiment.

In the drawings 1 is the one instep portion of a shoe to which the bearing block 2 is mounted. The tensioning lever 5 is pivotably mounted on said bearing block 2 by means of the swivel pin 4. Said tensioning lever 5 has several recesses 9. The other instep portion 7 has arranged 3 thereon the clamping loop 6 'by means of the shackle 8. Said clamping loop 6 is inserted, as illustrated in dash dotted lines in FIGURE 1, into one of the recesses 9 of the partly opened tensioning lever 5 and said tensioning lever is then closed by being pressed downwardly.

This results in a tension on the clamping loop 6 which causes both instep portions 1 and 7 to move together.

To release the strong tension, particularly in the case of skiing shoes if no tight fitting of the skiing shoe is required, for example during long breaks or when riding in a ski lift or a mountain railway, it is common to open the tensioning lever. However, in the prior devices, the clamping loop would thereby be removed from the recess so that for a later closing of the tensioning lever the desired recess would have to be found which often requires a few tries. For this reason, other known fastening devices have a suitable safety device which prevents the undesired removal of the clamping loop when the buckle is opened.

The safety device of this invention is an insert made of elastic material and provided with recesses therein. In the embodiments of FIGURES 2, 3 and 5 to 9, said insert 11, 11a, 11b, 11c consists of elastic preferably of hard polyvinyl chloride. Said insert is fixedly secured to the tensioning lever 5, 5a, 5b, 5c whereby the inserts and also the tensioning levers in the above-mentioned em bodiments differ only in the manner in which the insert is secured to the tensioning lever. In all of the embodiments, each insert is provided with recesses 12 that have openings which are more narrow at their open end than the cross section D of the clamping loo This means that the distance A between the teeth 13 which are positioned between the recesses 12 of the insert is not quite as wide at the open end as the cross section D of the clamping loop 6. On the closed end, however, the recesses have the same width or are wider than the recesses 9 of the tensioning lever 5 at this point.

It is clear now that the clamping loop 6, because its cross section D is wider than the distance A between the teeth 13, cannot be removed from the recesses 12 without a deformation or a sideward pressing of the teeth 13'. It was found to be most advantageous if a relatively hard plastic is used for the insert 11 since said plastic has a correspondingly long lifetime. Should the clamping loop 6 be pulled out of the recess or should said clamping loop be inserted into said recess, the teeth 13 of the insert, as is indicated by the arrows in FIGURE 2, deflect in the plane of the tensioning lever. To also guarantee said bending or deflecting of the last tooth 13a, a suitable space is provided between said last tooth and the adjacent part 14 of the tensioning lever 11.

Several possibilities exist for mounting the insert 11 onto the tensioning lever 5. There is the possibility of holding the insert 11 by two rivets. Another possibility which requires less work is illustrated in FIGURES 2 and 3. The insert 11 of this embodiment has a projection 15 on its end portion facing the swivel pin 4 of the tensioning lever 5. Said projection of the insert is moved underneath the portion 14 of the tensioning lever 5 and said lever is thus held in place. Such a projection is also used in the embodiment of FIGURES 5 and 6. The front end of the insert 11 can, as illustrated in FIGURES 2 and 3, be held to the tensioning lever 5 by means of a rivet 16.

Instead of said rivet, the sidewalls 17 of the tensioning lever 5b can have indentations 18 as illustrated in FIGURES 7 and 8. Said indentations 18 also hold the insert 11b.

The insert 11a in the embodiment of FIGURES 5 and 6 has a nose 19 at its front end, said nose being held by bent flaps 20 on the tension lever.

The insert 110 in the embodiment of FIGURE 9 is thinner or of reduced thickness in the area of its teeth 130. The teeth 22c of the tensioning lever 5c or its sidewalls 17 are bent inwardly a small amount. However, some clearance is provided between the teeth 220 of the tensioning lever and the teeth 13:: of the insert 11c as illustrated in FIGURE 9. This clearance must be provided so that the teeth in the plane of the tensioning lever can defiect aside when the clamping loop is inserted or pulled out. Said inward bending of the teeth 220 or the sidewalls makes it possible to hold the insert within the tensioning lever in a simple manner.

By constructing the recesses 12 of the insert 11 at their inner ends as wide or wider than the recesses of the tensioning lever, the tension of the clamping loop during closing of the tensioning lever is carried by the teeth 22 of the tensioning lever alone. Deformation of the insert and application of other stresses thereon is thus prevented, both during closing of the tensioning lever and when the tensioning device is in the closed position. Thus, a long lasting durable insert is guaranteed. Furthermore, the recesses 12, which are somewhat wider at their closed end, weaken the teeth 13 of the insert which makes said teeth more resilient so that they can be easily deflected to the side. By a suitable measuring of said tooth cross section and/or by a suitable material and by suitable dimensioning of the distance A with respect to the cross section D of the clamping loop 6, the force necessary for pulling the clamping loop out of the tensioning lever can be determined. However, said force can be held relatively small because the forces which move the clamping loop out of the recesses 9 when the tensioning lever is opened are relatively small.

The embodiment of FIGURE 4 illustrates a further insert 23 which consists of a wavelike bent leaf spring. However, the dimensioning of the recesses 24 for the leaf spring insert 23 are the same as for the recesses 12 of the insert 11 described above so that further description thereof is not believed necessary. In the embodiment of FIGURE 4, the one end 23a of the insert is positioned underneath a portion 14d of the tensioning lever 5b while the other end 23b can, for example, be connected to the tensioning lever by ,means of spot welding.

To prevent the clamping loop from becoming caught in the teeth 13 of the insert 11 'when said clamping loop is being inserted or pulled out, if desired, it is advantageous to round-off the teeth on the outside and inside at their free ends so that they have essentially a cylindrical cross section. The teeth of insert 23 can be similarily formed.

What I claim is:

1. A fastening device for shoes, particularly ski and mountaineering shoes comprising essentially a tensioning lever pivotably mounted to one instep portion of a shoe and having a substantially U-shaped cross section, said tensioning lever having several recesses in its sidewalls for receiving a clamping loop connected to the other instep portion and having a safety mechanism for preventing removal of the clamping loop from the recesses when the tensioning lever is opened, the safety mechanism comprising an insert having recesses and being made of resilient material, said insert being fixedly secured to the tensioning lever with the recesses of said insert being of less width at the open end than the cross section. of the clamping loop while the insert recesses are at their closed end of at least the width of the recesses of the tensioning lever at this point.

2. A fastening device according to claim 1, wherein the recesses in the insert define teeth therebetween which are rounded off on the inside and outside of their open ends and therefore have a substantially cylindrical cross section.

3. A fastening device according to claim 2, whereinthe insert has a narrower thickness in the area of the teeth, and wherein the recesses in the tensioning lever-define teeth therebetween with the teeth of the tensioning lever being deformed slightly inwardly with clearance being provided between the latter and the teeth of the insert.

4. A fastening device according to claim 1, wherein the insert consists of hard, resilient plastic.

5. A fastening device according to claim 1, wherein the insert has a projection at its end facing the swivel axis of the tensioning lever, said projection on the insert being moved underneath a portion of the tensioning lever for holding said insert in position.

6. A fastening device according to claim 1, wherein the insert has a nose at its front end and is held by bent flaps formed on the tensioning lever.

7. A fastening device according to claim 1, wherein the insert consists of a wavelike bent leaf spring.

'8. A fastening device according to claim 1, wherein the insert is connected to and held on the tensioning lever by means of a rivet extending through one of the sidewalls of the tensioning lever.

9. A fastening device according to claim 1, wherein the insert is held on the tensioning lever at one end thereof by a pair of indentations formed in the sidewalls of the tensioning lever, which indentations extend into the insert.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2;292,140 8/1942 Lofgren 24-73 3,295,177 1/1967 Briickl 2470 3,333,301 8/1967 Lubian 24-70 DONALD A. GRIFFIN, Primary Examiner. 

